Personal above the political was secret to Yes success

The numbers who turned out for the 2016 March for Choice convinced anti-abortion campaigners that the Eighth Amendment was finishedCLODAGH KILCOYNE/REUTERS

A man walked out of St Brigid’s primary school in Kildare town on Friday and welled up with tears. David Keogh, 49, said that there were “hordes” coming into the polling station as he was leaving, more than he had ever seen before.

“It was amazing to be honest, amazing,” Mr Keogh, a lorry driver, said. “I felt like I was at the core of it, that I have actually caused part of this, I am responsible for this. It was so emotional.”

Mr Keogh was one of the 99 people selected to take part in the citizens’ assembly set up by Enda Kenny in 2016 to finally seek to address Ireland’s contentious anti-abortion laws. “I was pro-choice going into the assembly, but now I…

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